UC San Diego Receives $1.8 million for microgrid research

In a press release last week, reported by Electric Light & Power, the University of California, San Diego discussed its grant from the California Energy Commission that will allow it to expand its microgrid projects, helping provide data on the large-scale use of microgrids.

The commission also approved $1.6 million in funding to advance development of UC San Diego's pioneering microgrid, an increase of its previously awarded funding of $1,394,298 for the university's electric microgrid. The university is providing an additional $1,525,000 in match funding. These funds will be invested, in part, in analyzing multiple stand-alone energy storage technologies to further improve the microgrid.

The microgrid at UC San Diego serves a campus community of more than 45,000 people, and generates more than 90 percent of the electricity used on campus annually. The university saves more than $800,000 in power costs per month because of its microgrid. The project has also spurred investment: The nearly $4 million that the Energy Commission has invested in the microgrid since 2008 has been leveraged to garner more than $4 million from other funding sources, public and private.

New jobs and new opportunities are coming to California through the UC San Diego microgrid and electric vehicle charging projects.